IRWIN, St James — Maldon High School’s date with destiny has been put on hold for at least 48 hours after they were held to a 1-1 draw by St James High in their crucial ISSA/Digicel daCosta Cup Zone A game at Irwin High on Tuesday.

Maldon had to win the game to qualify for the second round of the competition for the first time in their history, and despite playing with 10 men for most of the second half came to within seven minutes of fulfilling their dream — but came up just short.

It was the second time the teams had played out a 1-1 draw this season as Renaldo Gallimore gave Maldon High the lead in the 61st minute, but Kenou Gram came off the St James High bench to snatch a point in the 83rd.

The point saw Maldon High finish their schedule on 17 points in second place in Zone A, two more than Cornwall Collge who will play St James High in another rescheduled game at Jarrett Park on Thursday which they must win if they are to join zone A winners Irwin High in the second round.

Despite extending their unbeaten run to nine games it was a bitter pill to swallow for Maldon High who were in control of their own destiny and must now hope that St James High will produce another gutsy performance on Thursday, despite having just pride to play for.

Maldon High, who lost all seven games last season and lost just once in the current competition in their opening game, have never been in contention to advance from the first round and it appears the pressure of expectations got to them — especially in a scrappy first half.

Gallimore, however, gave them hope when he curled a shot from just outside the 18 yards area, bending it into the top left-hand corner.

The euphoria lasted for a short time before Nicholas Drummond was sent off by Referee Delroy Harding and St James capitalised on the advantage — but they had to wait until late in the game to reap any rewards.

Shamoy Campbell, the Maldon goalkeeper who made two brilliant stops minutes before, dropped the ball as he was in motion to throw it out, which allowed Gram to pounce on it and stab it across the line — a dagger in the hearts of the Maldon faithful.

— Paul Reid

Tuesday’s results

Zone A

Maldon 1, St James 1

Zone F

May Day vs Bellefield @ May Day

Zone M

Denbigh 0, Glenmuir 5

Zone N

Winston Jones vs Kemps Hill @ Sunset Playing Field, Knockpatrick